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365 Challenge – Mark

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Dear 365 Readers,

As you may know, there are four gospels and each tells the story of Jesus’ life – but in a different style, for different audience, with differing focal points. Matthew was written for Jews, and served to tie the New Testament to the story and promises of the Old Testament. Mark’s gospel is entirely different.

Mark was written to a non-Jewish audience (maybe the Romans?) and was probably a missionary style book for people who were not acquainted with Jesus or Christianity. Mark doesn’t quote the Old Testament much, never mentions the Law, and doesn’t record many speeches or parables. Mark is more like a concisely edited documentary film script… It is full of action verbs like “at once” and “immediately” (42 times)… Characters rush from place to place and action sequences are spliced together in a way that almost defies organizational structure. Mark’s characters are “amazed”, “astonished”, and “terrified”… He would have written in all caps with lots of exclamation points today!

You will not need special instructions for reading Mark, it is loosely chronological and reads easily like a newspaper. Enjoy!